Holon Programming Model: A Software-Defined Approach for System of Systems

A System of Systems (SoS) must adapt to changing environments while supporting the dynamic integration of heterogeneous constituent systems. This evolutionary characteristic presents opportunities for developing third-party SoS-level behaviours that leverage CS capabilities in response to environmental changes. However, traditional SoS engineering approaches lack the programmability to create these adaptive behaviours. To address this gap, we propose the Holon Programming Model (HPM), a software-defined framework that facilitates the flexible development and orchestration of these behaviours. By decoupling programming concerns from SoS composition, HPM enhances the programmability and adaptability of SoS in dynamic settings. This paper establishes the theoretical foundations of HPM, demonstrates its applicability through a disaster management scenario, and lays the groundwork for future empirical validation through simulations, prototypes, and real-world implementations.